[Ch. 5. STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND FEDERAL REGULATION]

2. Enforcement of Federal Rights in Suits Against State Officers: the Eleventh Amendment

PENNHURST STATE SCHOOL AND HOSPITAL V. HALDERMAN, p. 252 (1984).

• What relief is being sought against whom?
• if damages are sought, does it matter whether the defendant is the State or a state officer?
• if injunctive relief is sought, are the officers immune? If not, why not?
• On the basis of what law - federal or state - is the relief being sought? Why should it matter?
• assuming that the claim is based on state law, and that the officer defendants were not immune from federal court jurisdiction, what was the basis for the federal court's jurisdiction over this claim? Diversity jurisdiction?
• if the officers were subject to federal court jurisdiction (sovereign immunity doesn't apply) regarding the federal law claims, why not the state ones?

 

SEMINOLE TRIBE OF FLORIDA V. FLORIDA, p. 258 (1996)

• does Congress have the power to abrogate the States' sovereign immunity, with respect to an Indian tribe's right to have the state engage in good faith negotiations toward a compact allowing for tribe-sponsored gambling?
• has it clearly indicated its intention to do so in the particular law at issue?
• what is the source of Congress' power to enact the law at issue?
• what sources of regulatory power have been recognized as including the power to abrogate State sovereign immunity? On what criteria have they been identified?
• if the action against the state fails, can it continue, under Ex parte Young, against the governor? If not, why not?

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION V. SOUTH CAROLINA STATE PORTS AUTHORITY, Supp. p. 10 (2002). Application of immunity to administrative proceedings

• What are the characteristics of the particular proceeding that make it the equivalent of a civil lawsuit brought by a private party?
• suppose the Commission had initiated an "investigation" on the basis of private complaint, heard the same evidence, and issued an order finding a violation and directing that it be corrected. Would the Authority be immune?
• As counsel for the Commission, how would you propose to rewrite the statute concerning the Commission's authority vis-a-vis states and state agencies, after this decision?